Heartbeats
by BraveTheElements
Summary: My last story. A one-shot I originally wrote as the origin story for The Flower Halo about Theodore and Eleanor. Victory's Raconteur and I decided to not use it, but I want to release it regardless.


**A/N: I completely forgot that I had written this. It's a fun little one-shot. Think of it as my posthumously released work, found in the depths of my computer. I'll let you decide why I wrote it, tell me what you think. It will be interesting to hear what you think. Dedicated to Simkaye, my confidant for these last two months. Continue to write amazing works, Simkaye. When I'm gone, I want you to continue doing what you do. You are easily the best reviewer on the site, and your kind words kept me going when I had no real motivation to write. **

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_Never betray the way you've always known it is._

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Eleanor walked out of her culinary class with a stack of books as high as her eyes. She sighed heavily and looked up to the sky. The sun was setting early that December over a deep blue sky. A cold air blew in. She balanced all the books in one hand and used the other to wrap her scarf around her neck. She looked at both of her sides and started heading home. _I can't believe this. _Her eyes shot to the ground for a second then back up over the books. She craned her neck to see over the many tomes, _I mean, it was awfully nice of him, but I can't carry all of these things._

She started forward back to her house. She looked down at the watch, it was four forty-five, December seventeenth. The breeze fluttered at her jacket and scarf as she walked down the empty street. The trees had all lost their leaves; their shadows longing for the fullness they once had. She sighed again and kept struggling to see forward. Her gait wobbled as she adjusted to carry all of the books; readjusting every step to make sure they didn't topple. She was tired, dragging her feet as she shuffled slowly back home.

She felt a slight bump coming in from behind her. Her arms moved, and her books fell forward, with her slowly going with them, _What? _She thought as she fell to the ground, _Who just bumped into me? I'm going to kill whoever it was, _She was mere inches from the ground when she felt someone gripping her jacket, then grabbing her waist. She had her eyes closed and arms outstretched, bracing for impact. She opened them slowly and felt herself getting pulled up again, until upright.

"I'm so sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention," A boy's voice said, "Let me take care of all this," he came in from behind her and threw himself onto the cold ground, as he started to pick up all the papers.

"Theodore?" Eleanor was surprised. The perpetrator was her neighbor Theodore Seville. Dressed in a green jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, a golden scarf, and dark blue jeans, she had rarely seen him outside of school, even when she was visiting the Seville's with her sisters. He was somewhat of a mystery to her at point, "Let me help you," Eleanor said as she dropped to the ground as well opposite of him.

He lifted his head, "Eleanor? Oh, I didn't realize it was you," he laughed nervously and brought his arms closer to himself and dropped his head again. Papers had fallen out of the books, notes, extra recipes, and, oddly enough, a love note written from a man to a woman. He picked it up, "Is this, um, yours?" he asked.

She looked surprise, "Oh, no. My teacher, at my culinary class, gave me these to use over the winter break," she took the notes from his outstretched arm and read it, "To Lauren," she read aloud, "My cooking can only come short to express my love for you. Alas, it is my only craft. Nonetheless, I will work tirelessly to prove it to you," she smiled.

"That's so sweet," Theodore said. She was surprised he was so easily able to say things like that. Most boys she knew weren't open with their emotions. She liked that about him.

"I'll have to give this back to him over the break," Eleanor said,"Lauren is his wife's name, she would want this."

"Yeah, she would," Theodore said softly. The two worked, occasionally looking at one another then averting their gaze awkwardly, _I can't believe I'm actually talking to her. _Theodore thought.

_He's so nice, I can't believe we've never talked before, _Eleanor thought, "Hey Theodore, Why is it that I never see you when I come over to your house? Simon and Alvin are there, but you never seem to be there.

_Embarrassment I'm assuming, _He thought to himself, "Oh I'm not sure. I must be out of the house most of the time," _Or upstairs…_

"Oh, I understand," Eleanor grabbed the rest of the stuff and piled it high, one on the other, "Well, it was really nice to talk to you, and thanks for the help," she said as she stood up again.

He blushed and said, "You can barely see over all of those books," he grabbed all of them. The papers were at the bottom, still in her hands.

"Wait, oh, you don't need to help," she said bashfully.

"It's the least I could do. It's my fault you aren't home yet," he was struggling slightly with books. He readjusted himself and she laughed.

"Well, thank you," A breeze picked up and a paper flew out of her hand, "That was the note!"

Theodore put down the books and took off after it. Eleanor looked at the books, then at the boy chasing the note for her. She took off after Theodore. The breeze got stronger, and the note flew farther away. Theodore hand his right arm stretched out as his jacket and scarf flew carelessly in the breeze. He was tearing across the ground, with determination in his eyes. Eleanor soon caught up with him, running alongside him. She was always very athletic. Soon, he was the one keeping pace with her as the note flew farther away.

The breeze suddenly changed directions as Eleanor pulled ahead. It started carelessly whirling to the other side of the street. Eleanor dashed out after it, but, again, she heard something tugging on her jacket. Theodore pulled her back onto the sidewalk as a car whizzed by. She flipped around and was suddenly in his arms, facing his chest. She could feel his heart beating quickly, and she could feel him breathing heavily. Their breathing soon matched each other and their hearts beat the same as she realized how close she was to death over a piece of paper.

"We'll…chase after…the paper… when… the traffic… dies down," He said in between breaths. She nodded and realized she had been in his embrace for a while now. They both blushed and broke away was from each other, smiling awkwardly.

"Thank you, Theodore," she said after they both caught their breaths, "I could have died."

"I don't know about all that, he was only going like twenty miles a hour," he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't downplay it, you saved me," she said.

"I'll take it then," he said as he turned to her and smiled, "are you ready to go?" she nodded and they continued across the street. They looked around for a second until Theodore pointed down the sidewalk, "It's up against the tree over there," Eleanor squinted her eyes, trying to see it. She caught sight of it, and her eyes widened. She started to run and he followed after her. She got close to it, outstretched her arm and grabbed for it. The breeze pulled it away again. She stopped running and Theodore caught up.

She sighed heavily, "It really doesn't want to get caught!" she said loudly.

"Well. that's not an option," Theodore grinned as he kept running. Eleanor smiled and ran after him. They ran for what seemed like hours, in reality, only about ten minutes until they were in a park. Theodore got to an open field where the note finally stopped, with Eleanor closely behind him. They both lunged forward and grabbed the paper at the same time, hand in hand. They both blushed as Eleanor let go. Theodore got up and helped her up.

He handed her the note, "We… got it," he said, winded. She nodded and simled.

"I… really owe you…" she said.

He breathed in heavily an exhaled slowly, catching his breath, "I told you, I owed you for starting this whole thing. She did the same breathing method after him.

"No, I mean for saving my life. Why don't you let me make you dinner?"

"I couldn't think of any better way," he said as the breeze softly wrapped around them.

* * *

They walked back together and grabbed the books they had left near her culinary school. It was completely dark by the time they got home; it was six thirty. The whole endeavor almost took them two hours, amazingly, neither of them looked very tired. Eleanor offered to carry all of the books, but Theodore wouldn't allow it. He walked back to her house awkwardly with the books in hand. She would giggle every time he would tilt, but he never let them spill. It was starting to get so cold, colder than either of them were dressed for.

They walked into the warm house. Mrs. Miller was waiting for her when they got back. Eleanor got in first, "Eleanor, where have you been?" she asked sternly. Theodore walked into the door right behind her. Mrs. Miller looked surprised, "Oh, good evening Theodore."

"Hello ma'am," he said, "Eleanor, where should I put these books?"

She quickly said, "Up in my room, if you wouldn't mind," he nodded no and walked upstairs, "Sorry, Mrs. Miller. I had a real struggle with all the books, then some things started happening and we went in a little adventure, and we ended up taking forever. I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't you worry little Ellie," she said slyly, "we already ate without you, but I think you want to use the kitchen don't you?"

She looked confused, "Yeah, actually."

Mrs. Miller walked past her, "It's fine, you're not in trouble. Just have a good time with Theo," she walked up the stairs, passing Theodore on his way down.

"Uh alright," she said apprehensively, "Thank you." Mrs. Miller disappeared upstairs.

Theodore jumped off the last stair next to Eleanor, "So, what were you thinking?"

She snapped out of her deep thought, "Oh, yeah. It's going to be a surprise, alright? I just hope I have all the ingredients," she grabbed a piece of paper out of her pocket and she walked briskly into the kitchen as Theodore followed. It was softly lit by a single overhead light. Eleanor started going through the refrigerator as Theodore hovered over her shoulders. She grabbed a few things and turned around to him, "Hey, it's going to be a surprise!" she checked the list again and put the ingredients down. She put her hands on his shoulders and tried to push him, "So out!"

He laughed, "Alright, alright," he moved backwards and she jumped forward slightly, "just call me when it's done. He went into the living room, turned on the light and started to read the magazines they had lying around. She turned back around with a smile on her face and grabbed everything she needed. Over the course of the next half hour, she chopped, diced, minced, stirred, beat, tenderized, and everything else in between. The fragrance of the cooking started to fill the house. Theodore was starting to get impatient. It simply smelled too good; it was slightly sweet, with a multitude of other amazing smells that he couldn't even place a taste to.

He floated back into the kitchen, "Can I come in yet?" he asked softly.

She twirled around. He got a look at her, she was in her element. She was glowing with happiness; he had never seen her like that before, "Not yet!"

"But," he said sadly, "It smells so good, and it's all cooking now, so why can't I just be in here?" The buzzer rang as he finished .

"You're patients paid off," she grabbed a dish out of the oven. It looked like breaded chicken, but it smelled like so much more. He was intrigued, and confused at the same time. She put it down on the top of the stove as he instinctively started grabbing dishes and silverware and placing them on the table.

"Let it cool for a bit," she said as she smiled.

"Oh, don't let me sway in the breeze like this!" he said as he gave her puppy dog eyes, "I'm dying of extreme hunger, by the way," he opened his mouth and slowly sunk to the ground.

She started laughing, "Alright!" she offered him a hand up and he smiled. He got up and she said, "If you burn your mouth, then don't come crying to me!" He walked over to the table and handed Eleanor her plate. She grabbed what he assumed was a chicken breast and put on her plate, and one on his. Then, from a pot, put some rice on the side.

_It looks like normal chicken and rice, but it smelled like so much more, _Theodore thought as he pulled out the chair for her. She blushed and sat down, _"_This is chicken, if I'm not incorrect," she nodded as she took and bite and her eyes widened with glee, _I guess she's never eaten it before either._ He took a bite. There was a symphony of amazing flavors playing around in his mouth. He didn't care about the heat of the dish, it was the flavor; it was indescribable, "What in the world is this?" he asked her.

"It doesn't have a name," she said mysteriously.

"Well, what all is in here?"

"I can't really remember," she said dreamily as she thought about the dish as she took another bite.

He laughed, "Have you ever made this dish before?"

"No," she pulled out the note, the note they chased for. She handed it to him. He looked on the back of the note, there was a recipe.

"The recipe that won her heart," Theodore said, "I can see why," he said taking another bite.

"It's completely delicious," Eleanor said. They both smiled and started eating again.

* * *

Theodore and Eleanor finished eating and cleaned up the dishes. Theodore was leaving and Eleanor saw him to the door. As he opened it, the breeze was lightly pushing at this back, making them both cold.

"Thank you, Theodore. It was really nice to hang out with you today," she said as she looked down at the floor.

"It was. I don't think we ever really interact outside of school," he was gripping his left arm with his right hand, "I, uh, had a really good time."

"Yeah so did I," they stood there for a while, in silence.

"So, yeah. I guess I'll see you some other time."

"Yeah, at school or something," she said.

"Later," he walked out of the door and started to close it slowly.

"Later!" she said excitedly. She closed the door and leaned against it. She felt her heartbeat quickly in her chest. On the other side of the door, Theodore was leaning against the door as well. He took a deep breath and lingered for a while.

_I can't believe I finally talked to her, _Theodore thought, _I wonder if she could tell how incredibly nervous I was._

_ Theodore's a really great guy,_ She looked down at her hands, _I'm shaking a little bit. This must be…_

_ What love feels like, _Theodore got up and started to walk home. He had to explain everything to Dave and subsequently Alvin and Simon. He didn't hear the end of his chance encounter for weeks.

Eleanor found out that Brittney and Mrs. Miller were watching the two of them from the top of the stairs at the end of their evening. She would go on to say that nothing was going on, and she was just repaying him. They would bother her about it for a while after wards, but they lost sight of it and stopped trying to pry.

Theodore and Eleanor became fast friends after that. Cooking, studying, doing everything together. They got closer than any of their other siblings would with their respective counterparts.

They could have never foreseen what would happen to them later. They couldn't have imagined the trials they would have to overcome. Nobody could.


End file.
